and the rate on the set fire storm swept across the german city and killed thousands. >> commemorative events were held for the victims today while elsewhere in the city, police were deployed to prevent clashes between yanase groups and anti- fascist activists. and at a memorial ceremony for dress dinners -- >> a memorial ceremony for dresdeners and many more. at the ceremony, we are thinking of those who needlessly perished in the second world war, a war that was started by germany. >> on february 13, 1945, britain's royal air force targeted dresden. with help from american bombers, the devastated the city, killing 25,000 people in just hours. much of the downtown area was destroyed along with industrial and military infrastructure. bombs were dropped indiscriminately and nearly everywhere to inflict maximum damage. copper bombing, a horrendous tactic now prohibited by the geneva convention. at a demonstration in the city center, thousands warned against forgetting about germany's nazi past which provoked the horrors of dresden, so the locals by locking arms to keep neo-nazis out of t